"P. J. Plauger - Child of All Ages" - читать интересную книгу автора (Plauger P J)

тАЬKids working six, seven days a week in the factories, going fourteen hours at a stretch, all to earn a few
pennies a week. ThatтАЩs all he could see! He never thought to ask why they did it if conditions were so
bad.тАЭ

тАШWell, why did they?тАЬ May asked reflexively. She was caught up in the childтАЩs enthusiasm.

The girl looked at her pityingly.

тАЬBecause it was the best game in town, thatтАЩs why. If you didnтАЩt like the factory, you could try your hand
at begging, stealing, or working on a farm. If you got caught begging or stealing in those days, they boiled
you in oil. No joke. And farm work.тАЭ She made a face.

тАЬThat was seven days a week of busting your tail from before sunup to after sundown. And what did
you have to show for it? In a good year, you got all you could eat; in a bad year you starved. But you
worked just as hard on an empty gut as on a full one. Harder.

тАЬAt least with a factory job you had money to buy what food there was when the crops failed. ThatтАЩs
progress, no matter how you look at itтАЭ

May thought for a moment.

тАЬBut what about all the children maimed by machinery?тАЭ she asked. тАЬWhat about all the kids whose
health was destroyed from breathing dust or stoking fires or not getting enough sun?тАЭ

тАЬEver seen a plowboy after a team of horses walked over him? Ever had sunstroke?тАЭ She snorted. тАЬSure
those factories were bad, but everything else was worse. Try to tell that to Old Man Morrisey, though.тАЭ

тАЬYou talk as if you were there,тАЭ May said with a hint of amusement.

Flatly. тАЬI read a lot.тАЭ

May recalled herself to the business at hand.

тАЬEven if you were right, you still could have been more tactful, you know.тАЭ The girl simply glowered and
hunkered down in her chair. тАЬYouтАЩve disrupted his class twice, now, and Miss RandolphтАЩs class too.тАЭ

May paused, turned up Sympathetic Understanding another notch.

тАЬI suspect your problem isnтАЩt just with school How are things going at home?тАЭ

Melissa shrugged again. It was a very adult gesture.

тАЬHome.тАЭ Her tone eliminated every good connotation the word possessed. тАЬMy faтАФmy foster father
died last year. Heart attack. Bam! Mrs. Stuart still hasnтАЩt gotten over itтАЭ A pause.

тАЬHave you?тАЭ

The girl darted a quick glance.